Issue #202 | 14 February 2013

Among the many stories that have been entered into our knowledgebases in the past few weeks have been posts regarding preparations for key upcoming meetings, and publications and dialogues feeding into the post-2015 development agenda. More.

Concern over human-driven climate change and the lack of success in constraining greenhouse gas emissions have increased scientific and policy interest in geo-engineering − deliberate interventions in the Earth's climate system that might moderate global warming. More.

4 February 2013: The Third Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Legally Binding Agreement on Forests in Europe (INC-Forests3) continued to revise draft negotiating text for a legally binding agreement (LBA) as revised by INC-Forests2 in September 2012, considered the outcome of intersessional work undertaken by an expert meeting on key terms and definitions, and addressed a paper on the implications of various options for bringing the LBA “under the United Nations umbrella,” which was produced by independent consultants at the Chair's request. More.

29 January 2013: The first session of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES-1) addressed a series of organizational, procedural and budgetary issues, including the election of its Chair, Bureau and Muldisciplinary Expert Panel. Following intense consultations among regional groups, Zakri Abdul Hamid (Malaysia) was selected as IPBES Chair and Robert Watson (UK) as Vice-Chair for the next three years. More.

Photo: Zakri Abdul Hamid (right), Malaysia, being congratulated for his election as the IPBES Chair.